High-flying Sarah Grocock has been recognised with her third award since graduating from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) with a first class honours just one year ago.
With her award outside Derby's Round House, where the ceremony was held
Last night she scooped the prestigious East Midlands Student Awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for her final thesis and design project submitted for her Architecture MArch (Part 2).
Preoccupied with the theme of ‘slowness’, Sarah’s project promotes health and wellbeing during an age where people are required to do more in less time.
The judges were impressed with Sarah’s vision of inviting nature into her design - by incorporating the ebb and flow of the tide and the movement of the sun – as well as her plans for nurturing contemplation, reflection and appreciation.
“I was honoured to be nominated and I still can’t believe this is my third award since graduating last year,” said the 25-year-old from Leicestershire.
“The research paper I wrote alongside this design, which explores the idea of reconnecting with natural time through architecture, was also awarded the 'Top Design Research Study Prize' at DMU’s 2016 Degree Show during my graduating year.”
Sarah's award-winning vision of 'slowness'
Sarah praises the facilities at DMU’s Leicester School of Architecture for her success, saying: “The workshops played a big part in my final project, along with the enthusiastic technicians who were always up for the challenge of making things work!
“Model-making has always been my favourite part of the course, and through the MArch course my tutor always encouraged me to use models for testing out ideas and pushing the boundaries; they are a tool for learning.
“Exploring the idea if ‘slowness’ highlighted the importance of craft and the process of learning and understanding through making.”
Sarah has been working as an architectural assistant at rg+p, a busy multi-disciplinary practice in Leicester, since 2012.
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She said: “I started working at rg+p while I was studying for my Architecture BA (Hons) at DMU and it has been useful to be able to learn from university and practice in parallel.
“After graduating with a first class honours, the practice sponsored me to complete my Master’s and now I’m hoping to return to DMU and study for my Architectural Practice Postgraduate Diploma (Part 3) so I can hopefully fully qualify as an architect.”
Nominated by her employer, Sarah was also named Best Rising Star by the Forum for the Build Environment (FBE) in October 2016.
The award recognises young professionals who are making a significant contribution to the wider construction industry and Sarah was named the inaugural winner in recognition of her academic success and practical experience.
Posted on Friday 26 May 2017